Gas-burner.



G. A. JOHNSON. GAS BURNER;

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, 1910.

974,671 D Patented Nov. 1,1910.

CARL A'. JOHNSON, OF BUGKLIN, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH 'IO JOHNT. COLEMAN, OF 'IOLAR, TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO.

GAS-BURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 11, 1910.

Patented Nov. 1, 1910.

Serial No. 554,750.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL A. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bucklin, in the county of Linn and State of Missouri, haveinvented a new and useful Gas-Burner, of which the following is aspecification.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved gasburner of that type embodying means for automatically cutting 0d the gasin the event that the flame is accidentally extinguished.

It is one aim of the present invention to improve and simplify thestructure of the burner mechanism illustrated and described in PatentNumber 939,263, issued to me on November 9, 1909. Incidentally, theinvention aims to render more substantial the structure of the devicewhereby the same will be better adapted to general use and will not beliable to get out of order or become accidentally disarranged. The aimsof the present invention are in general identical with those of theinvention of the patent; mainlyto provide for the automatic cutting offof the flow of gas to the burner in the event of contraction of thethermostatic element of the burner, its abnormal expansion, itsfracture, or its disengagement from the member by which it is supported.

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure 1 is a view partly in elevation andpartly in section of the burner of the present inven tion. Fig. 2 is asimilar view, illustrating the positions assumed by the several partswhen the valve of the burner is open. Fig. 3 is a sectional view takenin a plane at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is ahorizontal sectional view through the burner on the line 4% of Fig. 1.Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the members of the burner towhich the thermostatic element is connected. Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview of the valve actuating member of the burner. Fig. 7 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 3 but of the lower end of the device only andillustrating the parts in the position assumed when the valve is open.Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7 illustrating the position assumed bythe parts when the valve is closed.

In the drawings, the gas supply pipe of the burner is indicated by thenumeral 10 and terminates in a burner tube 11 provided at its upper endwith an ordinary burner tip 12. An ordinary plug valve 13 is fitted inthe pipe 10 and has its stem provided with is preferably formed integralwith the said supply pipe of the burner, the said head being located ina vertical plane, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings. Thishead 15 constitutes part of the barrel of the casing and this barrelincludes, in its structure, a second head which is made up of twosemicircular sections 16 fitted together upon the stem of the valve 13and formed each with a flange 17 and the edges of these flanges bearagainst the forward face of the said head 15 at the peripheral edgethereof, the said parts of the barrel being held together by suitablelugs or other means, the showing of which is omitted in the drawings,for the sake of clearness. Each of the sections 16 is formed with anupstanding substantially V-shaped casing extension which is rearwardlyoffset with respect to the barrel of the casing and the arms of thisV-shaped extension are indicated one by the I numeral 18 and the otherby the numeral 19, the arm 18 extending upwardly at an angle in advanceof the burner tube 11, the arm 19 extending also upwardly at an anglerearwardly of the said burner tube. The eX- tensions of the casingbetween the arms 18 and 19 are preferably cut away leaving semibands 20which embrace the burner tube and serve to hold the extension rigid withrespectto the said tube. The arm 19, as will be presently made clear,may be solid, but the arm 18 is hollow.

'In the barrel of the casing and upon the stem of the valve 13, there ismounted, for free swinging movement, a valve actuating member in thenature of a plate of segmental form, indicated by the numeral 21. At oneouter corner, the said plate is formed with a lug 22 which projects inthe direction of the forward face of the head 15 and formed in thisplate and extending from the said lug to and opening through theopposite radial edge of the plate is a slot 23. The formation of thisslot results in a resilient arcuate finger 24, which is sprungrearwardly, or in other words, to project toward the head 15 and a lugor shoulder 25 upon this said head is adapted to be engaged by the freeextremity of the finger whereby the said valve actuating plate 21 willbe held against swinging over to the left in Fig. 3 of the drawings.Movement of the plate to the right in the said figure of the drawings islimited by a lug 26 formed at that corner of the plate opposite thecorner at which the lug 22 is located. A spring 27 is engaged at one endwith the first mentioned radial edge of the plate 21 and is coiled aboutthe valve stem and connected at its other end to a pin 28 upon the head15 and this spring tends at all times to swin the plate 21 to the leftin the said Fig. 3 of the drawings, it being understood that thismovement is normally prevented by the engagement of the free extremityof the finger 24 with the shoulder 25. The invention contemplates thatthe plate 21 will cooperate with the fixed member upon the valve stemwhereby when the finger 24 is disengaged from the shoulder 25, theswinging to the left of this plate by the spring engaged therewith willresult in the cooperation of the said plate and the member referred toas being upon the valve stem, to rotate the said valve stem and closethe valve.

The member above referred to is in the nature of a plate fixed upon thestem of the valve and having a volute or cam edge, the said plate beingindicated by the numeral 29 and having a portion of its edge (thatportion which is more remote from the axis of the plate) formed With aflange 30 which projects, preferably forwardly from the said plate. Itwill be observed from inspection .of Fig. 3 of the drawings that at apoint substantially diametrically opposite the outermost edge portion ofthe disk 29, the said disk is formed with a lug 31 adapted to engagewith a stop 32 when the valve is in closed position whereby the same maynot be opened except by rotation to the right in Fig. 3. Thus it will beunderstood that should the plate 21 be automatically released and bemovedto the position shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, it may be returnedto original position (see Fig. 7) by turning the valve to the right.

It will be observed that the lug 31 on the member 29 engages againstthat edge of the valve actuating member at which the lug 26 is formed,when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings andthat when the member 21 is in set position, the valve may be turned toany desired point and should the valve actuating member be released dueto any cause, its said edge will strike the lug 31 resulting in aclosing of the valve. It will further be understood that should thevalve be only partly open and the actuating lever be released, the valvewill be moved to closed position.

From the foregoing description, itwill be readily understood that meansis to be provided for automatically disengaging the finger 24 from theshoulder 25 and that such means is to be actuated through thecontraction and expansion of a thermostatic element connected therewith.The means mentioned is mounted in the hollow extension 18 of the casingfor the mechanismand embodies an arm 34 which is formed, adjacent itsupper end, with a housing 35 receiving a pivoted pin 36 which extendsacross the upper end of the said extension of the casing. F rom this itwillbe understood that the arm has its major portion extending withinthe extension and that the said arm may rock to a limited degree uponthe said pivot 36. A plate 37 is provided at its upper end'with a loop38 and adjacent its lower end with an open-sided loop 39 both of whichloops slidably fit the arm 34 and consequently support the plate uponthe said arm for sliding movement. lower end of the arm 34 is directedforwardly, or in other words, in the direction of the finger piece 14 ofthe valve, as at 40. The forward edge of the plate 37 is formed with aflange 41 which extends in advance of the forward edge of the arm 34 andthe convex edge of the arm bears against a filling 34 in the open-sidedloop 39 for a purpose to be presently explained. The plate 37 is furtherformed with a rearwardly extending shoulder 42 and at its lower end isbifurcated, as at 43, to afford spaced portions 44 and 45, of whichportions the one 45 is located rearwardly of the one 44. For a purposewhich will presently be made clear, the plate 37, above the shoulder 42,is so relatively narrowed that its rear edge will lie forwardly of therear edge of the arm 34. At a point below its pivot, the arm 34 isshouldered, as at 46, and a spring 47 is fitted upon the arm and bearsat its upper end against the shoulders 46 and at its lower end againstthe upper end of the plate 37, it being understood that this springtends to hold the plate at the limit of its downward movement upon thearm.

A bowed spring 48 is engaged at the lower end of one of its arms withthe forward wall of the extension 18 of the casing and the correspondingend of the other arm is engaged through the arm 34 at a point betweenthe upper edge of the shoulder 42 of the plate 37 and the loop 38 of thesaid plate. This spring 48 tends to expand and consequently it holds thearm 34 normally rocked rearwardly or in the direction of the burner tube11' and furthermore, its engagement with the arm 34 at It will beobserved that the the point mentioned, serves as a means for limitingthe up and down sliding move ment of the plate 37 upon the said arm. Thethermostatic element of the device is in the form of a wire 48 of somemetal or composition of metals having a high coefficient of expansionand contraction, and at one end this wire is secured by means of a clipplate 50 and a set screw 51, to the upper end of the casing extension19. The other end of the wire is hooked, as at 52, and is engaged 111 anotch 53 formed in the forward edge of the arm 34 of the upper endthereof and consequently above the pivoted end of said arm. It will beobserved that this thermostatic wire extends adjacent the tip 12 of theburner tube and is consequently affected by the flame issuing from thesaid tip. For a purpose to be presently explained, the flange 30 isformed with a notch 54 and one wall of the casing extension 18 is formedwith an opening The operation of the device is as follows:

hen the valve 13 is in closed position, under normal conditions thevalve actuating member 21 is in the position shown in Fig. 3 of thedrawings and the extremity of its finger 24 is in engagement with theshoulder 25, the spring 27 being at such time under a maximum tension.Also, the lower end of the portion 44 of the plate 37 rests upon theflange 30 of the plate 29 and in engagement with the notch 54 in thesaid flange, this engagement of the said portion with the flange servingto hold the plate 37 in the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, orin other words, in elevated position with respect to the arm 34 againstthe tension of the spring 47. W'ith the parts in this position, the lug31 engages the stop 32. Should it be desired to light the burner, thevalve 13 is turned to the right or in other words, in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 of the drawings so that the member 29will assume the position shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, in whichposition the lower end of the portion 44 of the plate 37- will rest uponthe left hand end of the cam edge of the member 29, or in other words,on the edge at that end nearest the axis of the valve and the lug 31will be against the left hand edge of the member 21 (supposing the valveto have been opened to its fullest extent). is the valve is rotated toopen position, the plate 37 will be allowed to slide downwardly upon thearm 34 until its portion 45 engages or seats in a notch 56 formed in thehead 15 in juxtaposition to the shoulder 25. lVhen in such position, thesaid portion of the plate will engage beyond the finger 24. It

will now be readily understood that should the thermostatic wire 49contract, which would occur if the flame was extinguished, such as bybeing blown out, the pull exerted upon the upper endof the arm 34 willre salt in the lower end of the arm being swungforwardly or in otherwords in a direction away from the burner tube 11. This movement of thelower end of the arm will, of course, result in the extremity of thefinger 24 being disengaged from the shoulder 25 so that the spring 27will be permitted to rotate the valve-actuating member 21, of which thisfinger constitutes a part. This rotation of the said member is in adirection opposite the direction of movement of the valve to openposition and inasmuch as the lug 31 of the member 29 is in engagementwith the edge of the member 21, this lug will be readily engaged and thevalve will be rotated to closed position, as shown in Fig. 8 of thedrawings. It will be understood that the closing of the valve willresult from this operation, whether or not the valve is completely oronly partly open.

When it is desired to manually cut off the supply of gas to the burner,the valve is ro tated to the left of Fig. 7, it being under stood thatthis movement of the valve may be accomplished without disturbing thevalve actuating member 21. It will further be understood that thismovement of the valve will result in an elevation of the plate 37 owingto the volute form of the member 29 upon the stem of the valve so thatthe portion 45 of the plate will be brought to position with its lowerend nearly to the upper edge of the finger 24 to such a degree that whenthe wire 49 contracts, the forward movement of the rocking arm 34 willnot result in release of the valve actuating member. It will further beunderstood that the engagement of the lower end of the portion 44 of theplate 37 in the notch 54 in the flange 30 serves to hold the valveagainst being jarred or otherwise accidentally opened, although thisengagement is not one of such positive character as to render difficultthe manual opening of the valve.

In setting the trip mechanism after it has been tripped, a pin isinserted through the opening 55 and the valve is then opened to thefullest degree whereupon the resilient finger 24 will engage at its endwith the shoulder 25.

As heretofore stated, the device is arranged to automatically close thevalve should the thermostatic wire 49 become abnormally ex panded orfractured or disengaged from either of its supports and the manner inwhich this result is accomplished will now be described. The shoulder 42of the plate 37 normally rests against the near side of the burner tube11, as shown for example in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and should thethermostatic wire become abnormally expanded or should it becomefractured, the spring 48 will be permitted to swing the arm 34 freely tothe left in the said Fig. 2. In so moving, the arm would bear againstthe rear end of the loop 38 of the plate 37 and as this loop is abovethe shoulder 42 and the said shoulder is in contact with the burnertube, the plate 37 will be rocked upon the said shoulder 42 as afulcrum. It will result in the portion 45 of the plate 37 movingforwardly to disengage the finger 24 of the shoulder 25 therebyreleasing the said valve actuating member 21 and allowing the same toclose the valve 13.

It will be observed that the concave edge of the lower portion 40 of thearm 34 bears against the filling 34 both when the plate 37 is raised, asin F ig. 5, and when it is lowcred, as in Fig. 7. Should the valve bemanually opened when 21 is in set position, the member 37 slides downupon the arm 34 by the action of the spring 47 until the contact of theinner side of the leg 45 with the inner side of the free end of finger24 and the contact of filling 34 with the concave edge of the arm 34stops its further descent and it may be here said that when the wire 49is first put in use and is cold this descent of the member 37 is veryslight; but when the wire becomes heated and expands allowing 40 to moveto the left due to the action of spring 48, the inclined surface of 40allows the member 37 to descend farther, the degree of descent varyingaccording to the degree of expansion of the wire. Thus at all times whenthe valve is open the inner side of leg 45 rests firmly against thefinger 24 and the filling 34 has the concave edge of the lower part 4O01 the arm 34 resting firmly against it so that Whether the degree .ofexpansion of the thermostatic wire be great or small, all subsequentcontraction will be transmitted with no loss by looseness, when the wirecontracts with the valve open due to the flame becoming extinguished.

What is claimed is 2-- 1. In a device of the class described, a burnerbody, a burner valve, a valve actuating member upon the stem of theValve, a fixed projection on the burner body, the said valve actuatingmember having a portion engaging normally with said projection, a springtending to rotate said member in the direction of rotation of the valveto closed position, a member fixed upon the stem of the valve andadapted for engagement by said valve actuating member when the same isdisengaged from said projection, a pivoted member adapted when moved inone direction to so disengage the valve actuating member, a springconnected with the pivoted member holding it normally in one direction,and a thermostatic element connected to the said pivoted member.

2. In a device of the class described, a burner body, a burner valve, avalve actuating member upon the stem of the valve, a fixed projection onthe burner body, the said valve actuating member having a portionengaging normally with said projection, a spring tending to rotate saidmember in the direction of rotation of the valve to closed position, amember fixed upon the stem of the valve and adapted for engagement bysaid valve actuating member when the same is disengaged from saidprojection, a pivoted arm, a member upon the arm arranged to disengagethe valve actuating member when the arm is moved upon its pivot ineither clirection, and a thermostatic element connected to the arm.

3. In a device of the class described, a burner body, a burner valve, avalve actuating member upon the stem of the valve, a fixed projection onthe burner body, the said valve actuating member having a portionengaging normally with said projection, a spring tending to rotate saidmember in the direction of rotation of the valve to closed position, amember fixed upon the stem of the valve and adapted for engagement bysaid valve actuating member, when the same is disengaged from saidprojection, a pivot ed arm, means upon the arm arranged to so disengagethe valve actuating member when the arm is rocked upon its pivot ineither direction, a spring tending normally to hold the arm in onedirection, and a thermostatic element connected to the arm.

4. In a device of the class described, a burner body, a burner valve, avalve actuating member upon the stem of the valve, a fixed projection onthe burner body, the said valve actuating member having a portionengaging normally with said projection, a spring tending to rotate saidmember in the direction of rotation of the valve to closed position, amember fixed upon the stem of the valve and adapted for engagement bysaid valve actuating member when the same is disengaged from saidprojection, a pivoted arm, means arranged upon the arm for rocking andsliding movement and adapted to so disengage the valve actuating memberwhen the arm is rocked upon its pivot in either direction, a springtending normally to hold the arm in one direction, and a thermostaticelement connected to the arm.

5. In a device of the class described, a burner body, a burner valve, avalve actuating member upon the stem of the valve, a fixed projection onthe burner body, the said valve actuating member having a portionengaging normally with said projection, a spring tending to rotate saidmember in the direction of rotation of the valve to closed position, amember fixed upon the stem of the valve and adapted for engagement bysaid valve actuating member when the same is disengaged from saidprojection, a pivoted arm, a member upon the arm and adapted when thearm is rocked, a spring normally holding" the arm in one direction, thesaid member upon the arm moving bodily with the arm when the arm isrocked in one direction and adapted to rock upon the arm when i the sameis moved in the other direction, and j a thermostatic element connectedwith the arm.

6. In a device of the class described, a burner body, a burner valve, avalve actuating member upon the stem of the valve, a fixed projection011 the burner body, the said valve actuating member having a portionengaging normally with said projection, a spring tending to rotate saidmember in the direction ot'rotation of the valve to closed position, amember fixed upon the stem of the valve and adapted for engagement bysaid valve actuating member when the same is disengaged from saidprojection, a pivoted arm, a spring arranged to normally hold the arm inone direction, a thermo static element connected with the arm andnormally holding the same against movement in such direction, and amember upon the arm arranged to disengage the valve actuating memberwhen the arm is rocked in either direction upon its pivot, the saidmember being movable bodily with the arm when the arm is rocked in onedirection and being movable independently of the arm when the arm isrocked in the other direction. I

7. In a device of the class described, a burner body, a burner valve, avalve actuating member upon the stem of the valve, a fixed projection onthe burner body, the said valve actuating member having a portionengaging normally with said projection, a spring tending to rotate saidmember in the direction of rotation of the valve to closed position, amember fixed upon the stem of the valve and adapted for engagement bysaid valve actuating member when the same is disengaged from saidprojection, a pivoted arm, a spring arranged to normally hold the arm inone direction, a thermostatic element connected with the arm andnormally holding the same against movement in such direction, and amember upon the arm arranged to disengage the valve actuating memberwhen the arm is rocked in either direction upon its pivot, the saidmember upon the arm being movable independently of the arm when the armis swung in that direction which the said spring tends to move it, andbeing bodily movable with the arm when the arm is moved in the oppositedirection.

8. In a device of-the class described, a burner valve, means arrangedwhen released to close the valve, oscillatory means arranged to rock ineither of two directions to release thesaid valve actuating means, and athermostatic element connected to the said means, said means being soarranged and constructed as to release the valve closmg means uponcontraction or expansion of the thermostatic element beyond certainlimits.

9. In a device of the class described, a. burner body, a burner valve, avalve actuating member upon the stem of the valve, a fixed projection onthe burner body, the said valve actuating member having a portionengaging normally with said projection, a spring tending to rotate saidmember in the direction of rotation of the valve to closed position, amember fixed upon the stem of the valve and adapted for engagement bysaid valve actuating member when the same is disengaged from saidprojection, a pivoted arm, a thermostatic element connected to the arm,a member fitted on the arm for sliding and rocking movement thereon andhaving a portion cooperating with the burner tube of the valve to serveas a fulcrum upon which the member may rock, a spring normally holdingthe member lowered, a spring tending normally to move the arm in thedirection of the said burner tube, the member upon the arm having aport-ion adapted to engage with the valve actuating member and dlsengagethe same from the projection, the said member being movable bodily withthe arm when the arm is moved in a direction away from the burner tubeand being movable upon its fulcrum when the arm is moved toward the saidburner tube.

10. In a device of the class described, a burner body, a burner valve, avalve actuating member upon the stem of the valve, a fixed projection onthe burner body, the said Valve actuating member having a portionengaging normally with said projection, a spring tendin to rotate saidmember in the direction 0 rotation of the valve to closed position, amember fixed upon the stem of the valve and adapted for engagement bysaid valve actuating member when the same is disengaged from saidprojection, a pivoted arm, a thermostatic element connected to the arm,a member fitted on the arm for sliding and rocking movement thereon andhaving a portion cooperating with the burner tube of the valve to serveas a fulcrum upon which the member may rock, a spring normally holdingthe member lowered, a spring tending normally to move the arm in thedirection of the said burner tube, the member upon the arm having aportion adapted to enga e with the valve actuating member and disengagethe same from the projection, the said member being movable bodily withthe arm when the arm is moved in a direction away from the upon thevalve stem having a volute edge eoiiperatingwith the said member uponthe arm whereby' to elevate the same when the valve is turned to closedposition.

In testimony that I claim the fdregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy slgnature 1n the presence of two wltnesses.

CAR-L A. JOHNSON. Witnesses:

H. E. BAILEY, R. W. BAILEY.

